Public Sector Governance and Accountability Series: Budgeting and ...

174 Anwar Shah and Chunli Shen
and—most important—funding potential are highly associated with the
use of performance measurement in budgeting (Wang 2000).
Staff training
Political enforcement and managerial commitment alone will not make any
change if civil servants lack the capacity to implement performance budgeting.
Most of the work of developing and maintaining a performance budgeting
system is done by the budget staffs in the executive and legislative branches.
In the absence of adequate training, managers and staff members are
unlikely to be able to understand the potential value of a results-oriented
approach or be able to provide for effective implementation and use (Perrin
2002). When a performance budgeting system is attempted, a series of
important questions follows: How can valid and reliable performance information
be obtained? How can performance be tracked over time while still
keeping data collection costs under control? What is the correct interpretation
of performance results? It is not feasible to plan an evaluation of a
program’s effect without sufficient resources and appropriately trained personnel.
Personnel training can make a difference, not only by changing
attitudes but also by preparing competent staff members. Transforming an
organizational culture by building performance consciousness into daily
functions is a difficult undertaking. The experience of many different jurisdictions
(Denmark, Norway, and the United States, among others) is that
training, guidance, and availability of technical assistance are required over
a period of time.
Information technology
Government agencies frequently do not have data systems that can readily
generate the performance information needed. Many state agencies have
collected program data in mainframe systems that cannot easily respond to
information needs. Coupled with data quality needs, certain electronic
systems must be in place for maintaining and tracking performance.
Accounting system
The absence of an appropriate accounting system may undermine performance
budgeting reforms. The foundation for performance measurement is
activity-based costing of all direct and indirect costs to a program to provide
a more accurate picture of the expense of achieving a specific objective.